The Needle's Eye
by Farmageddon
Summary: Set over an hour in the evening on the day before Judgment Day . All is exactly as it should be in the Young household. Claire has a new piano student. Human drama that starts out real slow and slowly builds to solid tension. Two part one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

_ Hi. You know I like writing drama , and setting it slightly AU. _

_This is a story that's been bugging me for ages. It's one hour, a slice of time , the evening of the day before Judgement Day, set in the Young's family home. It starts real slow and I'm going to try to build the tension. It asks the question how does Allison survive? How does a small child, assuming 2014 to be the date , get through and grow up to become close to Connor's command structure. I have a theory I think you might like, and it asks why didn't Skynet go after Alison Young, because at some point , even though Skynet initially creates Cameron, Cameron becomes its biggest single threat in the war after she's been reprogrammed and becomes John's right-hand metal. I'm also assuming two very special people come back to protect her from a more distant date , one after Skynet has been defeated. _

_Now here's the thing. This short story starts off very quiet and builds. By the end the key players will have to make some serious decisions, and they are not easy ones to make. You might have to help me make them._

_I also have taken a big liberty here. The Young's are living during a new period of economic boom. They are relatively wealthy and not at all interested in the lives of the poor. They are going to have to question weather they even want to survive in a post JD world. Also maybe, Cameron being what she is, may make that decision for them in order to ensure Allison gets to safety, without them being a burden. Even her genetic "parents" are of little importance on her scale of things._

_I don't own any of this at all. I write for nothing . If anyone wants to sue me, I've got a work jacket and one pocket is full of nails. You are welcome to them_.

_If you do/don't like it review anyway. I'm thinking it can be written as a two part- oneshot._

* * *

David Young watched out of the Armorlock security windows that had recently been fitted to his family home. The Armorlock Company were contracted to fit windows and doors on the more exclusive projects his design company were working on . He was right up there with the million dollar plus homes going up all over Leona Valley . He'd got a very good deal on them for his own home. After years of economic uncertainty the construction industry was booming again.

Out in the street it was the usual group of kids. Young's older daughter Katie and the regular "gang' of, ten year olds who parked up their bikes and sat on the grass verge beyond his fence On hot evenings ,the overhanging trees from his garden provided them with cooling shade . They left their bikes pavement recharging the solar batteries. The kids drank soda and put their empty plastic bottles and sweet wrappers in the trash. It was good, safe , clean neighbourhood with mostly well behaved children. He'd buy Katie's sister a solar bike for her next birthday. She could learn to ride it on the drive.

David glanced up and down the road. Claire's new pupil would be arriving shortly. His wife was tidying the last of the children's toys and books into the cupboard under the stairs . Claire always fussed like this when a new student was due to arrive for the first time.

David heard the chugging thunder of an open piped Harley cruising towards them from the top end of Yucca Drive. The bike's engine changed note as it slowed down outside their house and pulled onto their drive. The rider tilted the bike to one side and kicked down the stand. Behind her , a pillion, who was obviously a male. The children peered over the fence through the gaps in the bushes to get a look at black and chrome motorcycle throbbing on the driveway.

"Er, Claire." David spoke quietly.

Claire had shut the door to the children's toy cupboard and was straightening her clothes.

"Claire did she say anything about turning up on a Harley?"

"Claire?"

"No she didn't. does it matter?"

"Think she's got a boyfriend with her. Leather jacket ,boots, you know. Did she say anything about a boyfriend?"

The "boyfriend" had taken off his helmet and was nodding his head , mouthing the words to a track on his Ipod. He was about to sit down on a low wall that ran alongside the drive and light a cigarette.

The girl had begun walking almost striding towards their front door. When she took her helmet off she shook long brown hair away from her eyes. Against David's initial instincts he watched as Claire opened the front door to let .

"Cameron" , Claire Young briefly shook Cameron's hand. When the girl smiled, it was sudden and unexpected as Cameron breezed past David ,into the hall .

When Claire inquired about "the boyfriend" , the girl corrected her. "He's my husband".

_At least 'Cameron' spoke with an educated voice,_ David thought.

Claire's insisted Cameron's 'husband' came in and waited in the house, when he'd finished the cigarette he was smoking.

Cameron went back outside to talk to her husband . She seemed to be calmly negotiating with him. He'd taken out his earpiece and was looking towards the open door.

"They've driven all the way from Edwards Air Force Base, show some hospitality." Claire whispered through a clenched smile when David held his hands up to ask "why?" "And..." Claire continued in a forced whisper "...we can't have _him_ sitting out there . Someone driving past might call the police."

Both Young's put on their best welcoming expression. An hour later they would have their home back to themselves. Claire's music teaching paid Ali and Katie's kindergarten fees, though Claire's schedule would probably be too full for this particular student to return after this lesson. These were definitely not the "people like us " in the Young's world, and they were well off enough to pick and choose.

Claire guided Cameron through into the "music room." As all they filed through the hall David noted with some relief neither of the couple were looking around in the way he imagined those 'casing the joint' might. Cameron for some reason had momentarily seemed interested in the door frame to the music room, but that might have been his imagination. David ushered her 'husband' towards the hand -carved marble topped kitchen breakfast bar. At three thousand dollars a worktop they had been a steal.

It hadn't been until the guest sat down David had chance to really examine him. He had to force himself not to stare at the deep scars running down the left hand side of his face and what looked like burns, under the short cropped hair on his scalp. What was worse, the scars contorted the man's lips so David couldn't tell if they were curling into the start of a smile or if this was his neutral expression. David was seeing his reflection in a pair of mirror-glasses framed by a broken nose , three day stubble and scar tissue.

Still standing David found himself swallowing before he spoke .- "You know, I'm sorry . I'm David , David Young. I didn't get your name."

"John Connor" - The man's voice was gravelly, his speech slow , picking over his words with care . He held out a hand. It was rough skinned , dirty nails , like a construction worker's . David reluctantly shook it. That's when David noticed a faint odour, it was like something burnt or burning. What was it? Overheated clutch, brake pads, smoking oil, body odour, faint , garbage, sewage ? _My God_. David thought ,this guy doesn't even shower regularly . David sniffed.

David covered his thoughts with the professional expression reserved for colleagues and clients he disliked. This guy_ had to be what ? Forty ? What the hell was it with some guys that went after younger women ?_

There was a burst of piano Music , muffled through the living room door. Claire was putting Cameron through the scales.

John observed David trying to make sense of of him . John pointed to his mirror shades, "These? _Maybe that's what was disturbing the guy so much he reasoned._ "They keep me in an office pushing paper . We call it 'The Bunker'- takes a while for me to get used to strong sunlight again ."

", I sneeze at pollen." David's voice trailed. It had come out sounding slightly hysterical and random. He tried to make his voice sound stronger, "So Connor what line you in?"

"Defence". . When John pronounced "defence" the word rumbled out of his lower throat sounding more like a cross between defiance and defer_ence. _The manner in which Connor answered closed any possibility of further discussion about his work .

On the worktop eleven hundred dollars worth of designer Italian Expresso machine began making its reassuringly in-tune steam whistle. When David Young turned to the expresso machine , John caught Young angling his body to keep John in the edge of his peripheral vision.

" Your coffee"- David placed a tiny cup of viscous caffeine on the marble worktop .

John knew Young had started fucking with him, because his drink was just out of his arms reach without him sitting up in his chair and leaning over.

Both men could hear soft, gentle piano music muted through the living room door.

"A sonata, I think . Your wife plays well ," David tugged his collar . It was getting hot .

Yeh she does, play well. It's Chopin. Nocturne No 20 One of her favourites , It's a very technical piece.- you know what David ?" David hated it when older grunts on a construction site stopped laying concrete blocks, came over all fatherly with him and then usually started telling some long story to get over a moral point - like he was interested , he wasn't paying the bastards to talk! He put his fingers to his mouth and feigned interest. Forty minutes and this guy was out of here.

"Here's our problem. John continued "The piano we have, two years ago Cameron brought it out of some bombed out abandoned house. Steinway rosewood half-grand , .- A ceiling had fallen down on it, kept it hidden , musta been there twenty five years waiting to be found." Connor shook his head and grinned. David noticed he had a broken front tooth , he ran a finger over his own polished teeth.

"Cameron got the piano, weighed half a tonne mind you, on a truck, drove it home, practically dragged it up the stairs by herself. I wasn't there at the time. After all that, the damn thing won't stay in tune. Something to do with the heat, it was exposed to a lot of heat, enough to blister off varnish . That's why she wants to play yours. Her mum had Steinway half grand. Camron came from a good family Mr. Young. "

The good family bit was lost on David Young . He was puzzling over something John had said earlier.: "Couldn't you just buy another one, another piano? "

Connor shrugged , " No. We couldn't _buy_ another one."

"Anywhere?"

"Anywhere Mr. Young." Connor pressed the tiny white expresso cup to his lips as if he were about to tap it against his good tooth. David Young flinched, he would wash the cup himself after Connor left, in fact he might even put it in the trash.

David Young shifted position uncomfortably and glanced at the timer on the AGA Cooker. In half an hour and he'd never have to see this couple again. He wondered if he was best reporting the couple's visit to the police , just in case his home did get burgled in the next few weeks. If the "Connors" asked ,Claire's teaching schedule was definitely going to be full for the foreseeable future.

From that point on the two men sipped their coffee in a silence. Connor knew David Young was playing a "who speaks first-looses" mind-fuck. A red warning light blinked on the kitchen computer display panel and John quietly noted David attempting to ignore it. He felt completely relaxed observing, taking everything in, even if he was sitting across from an asshole who happened to be the closest thing to a father in law he'd ever have. He was enjoying listening to Cameron, for once playing an in-tune piano though.

The Kitchen door opened a fraction John glanced to his side to see a familiar set of brown eyes studying him through the gap . They were smaller and much lower to the ground than the ones he was accustomed to.

"Ali back up to your room please, now ". David's voice came out higher and more tense than he'd intended it to.

The brown eyes didn't budge an inch and the door didn't close.

"Daddy, my TV's gone funny, " . The door opened a bit wider and a five year old Allison Young

walked across the marble tiles and climbed up into the chair next to John Connor . She tilted her head to one side and stared at John with wide eyed innocence. Then she frowned.

"Does that hurt she asked?" She'd kneeled up in the chair and reached out a finger as if she was considering touching John''s face, then drew her hand back to trace the line of his scars down her own cheek instead.

John took his glasses off and placed them on the table.

"Ali" David Coughed. A pair of green eyes flashed at him. David had never seen eyes like Connors' before . He could sense invisible fire burning behind them . When Connor looked back to Allison the eyes gentled and his voice softened as he spoke affectionately to the child.

"Does it hurt me Ali ? No, not anymore." .

"Now Alison ", David, was almost shaking, he took the last deep slug of coffee. "You know what Dr. Baggley told you about asking socially inappropriate questions.

Ali Young looked like she was contemplating something of very deep significance. Then she reached over and quickly grabbed John's hand and let go . "I'm sorry." It was difficult to tell exactly which of the pair was the most transfixed by the other. As David Young faded into their background and ran his hand through his hair. Twenty five minutes, he thought, and this bum would be out of his home and away from his family . Connor definitely wasn't safe around his children.

Without taking his eyes off Ali John said "Hey its Ok." Then he began explaining with the slow almost inhuman patience he'd practised over the last quarter of a century with Cameron .

"Alison I don't mind, but some people wouldn't feel comfortable with anyone asking them about this kind of stuff. So it's best not to ask until you know its right."

"But how do you know when its right to ask?" Ali asked John with full but childish seriousness .

"Well here's the thing" ,John replied " when you know it's right to ask your friend, who looks like this" he gestured to his face , " you won't notice anymore this stuff , so you won't need to ask ." he considered her for a moment "You're very brave and I bet you don't get scared easily , do you ?"

"No-ow I don't get scared easy ."Ali shook her head, she'd been twisting on her sleeve through her fingers, never taking her eyes off his. She smiled , cryptically. Somehow she knew this strange man in her kitchen was already her friend, it was like she'd dreamt about him him sometimes .

David Young broke the spell. " What's actually wrong with your TV Ali ?"

Ali replied in a parody of a grown up voice, like her mother's "Well the pictures gone all crackly, and the programme keeps changing , sometimes there's pictures of a big bomb exploding and houses and people are burning, I don't like it " John nodded understandingly. Skynet did this when it had started gathering information its build up, together prior to fitting the fragments of itself together , pieces self assembling into consciousness. It flicked through the TV networks like it was using its own private remote. Nobody made the connection at first, Skynet just carried on spilling out into every network . This evening and tomorrow TV companies assumed what was happening was satellite malfunction

"Alison, it's not your TV." John explained with calm authority " It's every single channel and TV in Southern USA . It'll get better in an hour or so, then it'll go off again tomorrow evening. "

David shook his head , this had to be pure bullshit. He picked up the remote, switched on the TV and began flicking through the channels on the wall mounted TV in the kitchen. The footage was showing B52 bombers dropping Napalm on Vietnamese jungle. It was on every single channel.

This was getting so fucking weird. He pulled his Blackberry out of his jacket pocket and called his neighbour.

"Chas- David Young. I'm fine. My TV's not working " the line crackled and a series of pips interrupted the man's voice on the other end. …" Satellite's playing up, the Cable goes weird as well." there were more pips and the call ended itself.

John shrugged at Alison. " There's a storm coming, that's all- Say what's your favourite toy Alison ?"

She ponded for a moment, looking up to the right as if she was trying to visualise it. 'Mmmm, Mister Diggles. He's a dog."

Would you like to go and get Mr. Diggles so I can see him please Allison . John spoke like it was the most crucial thing in the world to see Mr Diggles . Without even looking at David Young , (who was still flicking tup and channels on his ultra flat wide screen kitchen TV,) Alison got down out of the seat and almost ran with great poise across the kitchen to the stairs. On the TV on every channel in 1950's monochrome a large mushroom cloud was expanding on the horizon during an early nuclear test in the pacific.

David Young seemed to shrunken physically , he folded his arms across himself when he spoke "What's going on Connor?" Is this some military screw up , terrorism, you seem to know?

John shrugged again" Like I said, it's a storm . That's all I can tell you."

It was a beautiful evening. Katie and her friends were on grass verge outside . David could hear Claire's pupil playing Chopin in the music room. They seemed to be getting on . Music was punctuated by female laughter. David could hear Alison's light feet on the the stairs. His five year old daughter was going to show as seriously scary stranger sitting in David's kitchen her favourite toy , and the background to all this , his TV on autopilot playing clips of the history of human warfare. It was showing a clip of a concentration camp when Alison came back the room he flicked it off . He never wants Ali to even suspect this kind of stuff happened in her world.


	2. John Connor Has InLaw's

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_I got to thinking about all the crap Cameron had to take from John's mum. In a well balanced universe maybe there is a little bit of this stuff waiting out there for him too. Even if not, it's fun to imagine what it would be like if the roles are reversed for a while. They are in the Young's household and Claire Young is not what you would expect her to be. I hope you enjoy reading this rather off-beat short story. Final, part three to follow._

It was taking David Young a lot of effort to play the ' who speaks first looses game' he had started with John Connor. It would be a stupid idea for anyone to even begin to play a game like this with John, but David Young couldn't have guessed who the man he'd been sitting next was. Why should he? What Connor doesn't want you to know, you never do. That is his way.

There was the sound of tapping from the front door. It was faint but regular enough to be heard between pauses in piano practice and was a valid enough reason to break the forced silence. David said "excuse me, a moment " and walked through the hall to open the door.

John heard keys turning in the locks, then two children talking excitedly.

"Daddy, You've got to see , the gates are opening and closing on their own."

John watched out of the kitchen window as David Young's security gates closed very gracefully , locked for a moment , unlocked and swung back open again. They reminded him of a pair of robotic arms on a production line engaged in a endlessly repetitive task.

"Katie why were you banging on the glass. Why didn't you just key your number in?"

"Doesn't work."

The girls were standing outside doorway giggling. There was the sound of car horns coming from the main road, alarm bells had started ringing , the sprinklers along the street had collectively gone haywire.

"You'd better come in Katie. Shelly, I think it's time for you to go home." David announced.

"Aw, see you tomorrow then" came Katie's reluctant voice.

"Come on in Katie, now please, and go up to your room, we've got a guest in the kitchen." David managed to say 'guest' in a most unwelcoming manner.

"Daddy, I'm really thirsty , there's some Cherry Coke in the fridge. Please."

"No go on up to your room , I'll bring it up to you. Do you want some biscuits as well?"

"I'm not going to my room, I don't want any biscuits I want my drink. Now."

"Katie."David sounded like a man running out of options and was about to get angry.

At that moment Claire Young opened the Music room door, spoke quietly and firmly, "David, get Katie her drink. Me and Cameron have finished in here , you can ask John to come through now please."

When David Young went back into the kitchen he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.

Cartons and jars had been pulled from the kitchen trash and they littered his marble work surfaces . Ali was kneeling up in the chair next to Connor. Between them they were pretending to spoon-feed a soft toy resembling a wolf cub . Ali was offering her toy a spoonful of chocolate paste scraped out from one of the jars. She carefully scooped the paste one way around the jar with a spoon and then another and then tried to put it to his mouth. John was smiling over her proudly, like Ali had discovered a new skill.

He was about to mouth "what the hell" when he heard Cameron's voice from behind him in the hall.

"John, it's time to go, now."

Cameron's hadn't quite finished her sentence before it was followed by a scream from the hallway.

Katie Young was too frightened to call for her parents. She'd tried to say "mum", but instead , a piercing animal howl had forced its way out of her mouth .

When they reached Katie she was backed against the wall . The adults followed her terrified stare to the front door .

A face pressed up to the armoured glass was examining Katie with unflinching surgical hatred. It was a parody of human appearance . Squares and triangles of different coloured skin and textured had been crudely joined to cover the endoskeleton. Patches of hair sprouted from its otherwise bald skull . Teeth were visible through a tear in its cheek above the exposed metal jawbone. The face sweated artificial coagulants like a weeping burn.

Cameron's eyes hardened as she stepped up to the door to return its glare. Her feet took up combat ready stance and her right hand curled into a tight fist . She swiftly moved her body to one side blocking its view of Katie Young. With equally faster -than-human reflexes it moved in the opposite direction keeping Katie in view.

David and Claire stood in the hallway . John instinctively held back using the stairs for cover. He was assessing the situation through the bannister rails when he felt a small hand touch him on his lower back. Very slowly he reached around to keep Alison Young out of view . She wrapped her arm around his leg and peered out from behind him. John whispered" Shhh you're going to stay,very very quiet."

Claire Young stepped forward and grabbed Katie pulling her out of the machine's line of sight , She stroked her head. Katie's hair was damp and a pair of tear-stained eyes peered out from running mascara and falling strands of brown hair . David Young stood with his mouth wide open watching as the machine's lifeless eyes followed Katie's every movement.

"What is it Cam ?" Connor's voice now carried its true authority . He'd decided he'd done pissing about with David Young.

Cameron's concentration on the machine didn't falter , she kept on eyeballing it and scowling. "It's 600 derived. John, it appears to be pieced together."

Connor let out a sigh of relief.

"Is it locked on?"

"It doesn't recognise you John . It's has damage . Cognition - recognition is dysfunctional it seems to knows what I am, but, not who I am. It's target -locked itself onto Katherine Young. It's auditory receptors also appear damaged, it can't hear us."

Katie whimpered. John turned to David , and that's when David Young realised Connor seemed fascinated by the situation, but not afraid.

"Don't worry, its not that dangerous" John said, putting his hand on Claire's shoulder.

"What do you mean it's not that dangerous ? What the fuck is that thing". David's face had gone completely white at this moment, and his eyes told John he was only a few steps away from loosing it all together.

Claire covered Katie with her arms. Katie had started involuntarily heaving and sobbing . Claire reached out for Ali but Ali wouldn't let go of John's leg. Through the bannister rails John Connor was staring down a face-stitched cyborg with a five year old girl clinging to his leg. Almost casually John inquired :" Is it armed?"

"Nine millimetre Glock , Mexican Police issue. The glass is UL 5 Armortex, hence its weapon is currently ineffective. " Cameron replied .

"Cam can it get through the glass? "

"Yes."

"One punch?"

"No , three . That's why it isn't trying . It's worked out I'd remove its arm if it broke through. Even with the arm intact it would also be at a 84% disadvantage against me once it got inside."

"OK , Cam ,so why's it standing there?"

"The 600 has calculated I will be at an initial disadvantage if I attempt to exit though this door and confront it on my own. It would withdraw to the the lawn and target my optics on my exit . Principally it is ensuring we can't exit the building without threat to human life or damage to myself that would allow such a threat."

Cameron dropped out of combat stance and turned her back to the machine . The stitched-together face floated into view like an oversize ,dead piranha bumping against the sides of a tank .

"John I can stand down . It won't attempt to force entry. That's not what its trying to achieve".

Cameron pointed to Claire, "I want you to take Katie and walk very slowly to the kitchen . Can you do that for me ? I promise you it won't try to get in."

Claire Didn't respond at first she kept making wild, startled glances at David ," "Do it ,do it now. Please." She prompted in a calm voice.

Claire picked Katie up, as if she was a smaller child and carried her to the kitchen. The 600 tracked Katie until she was out of visual and then it carried on 'watching' her through the walls.

" John, it's thermal systems are intact ."

David Young turned away from the door all the blood had drained from his face and his eyes had the look of man who has experienced real terror for the first time. "What is that thing Connor?"

John shrugged. " 600's a military cyborg. Basic one. Not very bright, confused. Possibly thrown together at the last moment . Not fully functional , singularly objective, but its got us pinned down for now."

"What does it want ?"

Connor Glanced down at Allison, his hand was on her shoulder , he winked. For a five year old kid she didn't appear extremely scared, more curious-scared than anything.

"I'm not sure , yet but er I think were going to find out. Cameron some help here, please." John pointed to Ali who was trying to weld herself to the back of his leg.

"Hey you, come on." Cameron very carefully undid the little girl's arms that were locked around John's leg. "It's just a big scary stupid cyborg, I won't let it hurt you , come with me and sit in the kitchen with mummy, come on now." Cameron took hold of Ali's arm and escorted her into the kitchen, " And, no peeking," she said firmly. "I'll know if you are peeking." Then Cameron returned to stand behind John and put her arm across his back and briefly pressed her cheek into his shoulder.

David's mind wanted to grasp at something substantial , but this was way too big and sudden for most human minds to grasp .

John and Cameron sensed his predicament. Their approach was usually to let the confused ask questions in situations like this.

"This is to do with this test, the computers going crazy isn't it? It's escaped from the airforce base hasn't it , you're here to take it back"

"Something like that." John answered.

"I'm calling the Cops"

Cameron walked over and touched David's arm , staring directly into his eyes. She'd learnt a lot about human communication over the last twenty five years. Cameron maintained the firm professional manner of a doctor dealing with a disturbed patient " David, that is one strategy the 600 has calculated for . It would stand there exactly as it is now then it would kill any law enforcement officers when they came within striking range. In all probability this would allow it to acquire heavier calibre weapons . Those weapons would put me at an increased disadvantage and further reduce my capacity to deal with it."

David interrupted "I don't understand , why do you keep saying you can protect us , are you crazy, you take that thing out on your own? " For the first time David Young found himself looking directly into Cameron's eyes. He had an overwhelming sensation was something extremely familiar about them-it must have been the stress.

Cameron, glanced at floor and then back at him, : "I keep saying things like I can take out a 600 series military cyborg, on my own, , Mr. Young, because I can." She stared at David forcing acceptance of what she'd said until he nodded .

"It doesn't want to kill all of you," Cameron continued " It only thinks it needs to terminate one of you . It's confused and has assumed Katie is it's original target. She's the nearest genetic match to whoever its original target was . Like I said its cognitive-recognition systems are damaged. It's gone in to acquisition mode, it's original target could have been anyone. This is just unfortunate for your family, this has happened to you."

" Unfortunate, that's all you can say? " David grasped at false hope- " Wait,I've got it! We could call the army, the Airforce Base , they'd send specialist teams to deal with it, they've got to be looking for it. "

Cameron glanced over at John and nodded. " David there's something else I've got to tell you . That Machine is only relatively stupid, well not even as stupid as most humans , you understand what I'm saying here . All it's got to do is keep us pinned down for ..." John glanced back at Cameron

"Thirteen and a half hours." Cameron finished his sentence or him.

"That's the safe period in which we have to evacuate ."

" Evacuate?" David's mind slipped even more gears, and it felt as if he'd begun coasting down a frightening gradient.

|"If we stay any longer we will be within the blast radius."

"Blast radius! Blast radius of what?"

"Edwards Airforce base, it's going to be hit by a nuclear warhead , around eight fifteen tomorrow night, we can't be exact about this , but it's thereabouts . Globally the defence systems are engaging themselves for a nuclear exchange and because I've worked with those systems now for twenty five years I know they won't be able to shut them down, tomorrow they will begin evacuating themselves."

"So, you and Connor, you're here to protect my family to get us out. What about the other families with kids, do they get evacuated ,why us ?"

"Mr. Young", Cameron spoke very quietly , " you need to understand something , it is technically outside my mission parameters to attempt to save your family because in doing so you jeopardise my primary mission. John and I am technically here as observers, not a combatants.

"Cam", John interrupted, "that is way too harsh . Surely there's something we could do for them, you know these are human beings , it's the eve of Judgement day, " John glanced at David, "Oh no, David, forget I said Judgement Day, it's just er piece of a military slang. Cam think , there's always options."

Cameron shook her head, " I am not risking damage to myself and my principal, to save a human family . John, let's be honest it's Judgement Day tomorrow, four billion of them die in the initial nuclear exchanges , more than a billion will be exterminated in what follows. I suggest we hand Katie Young over for termination and negotiate safe passage with the 600 now. That is the most expedient solution. Then again ," she tilted her head as weighing possibilities, " It may remove them to a place of safety and try to extract information. Oh , the 600 would erroneously infer the Young's had the information it thinks it requires, and they were resisting interrogation . The interrogation could go on for weeks, well at least until..."

"Cameron, that's enough" John said firmly.

David Young couldn't believe what he was hearing, even less what he was seeing when a moment later when she made the most scary robot face even John had ever seen her make .The blue flashing eyes completed the picture.

David Young put his back against the wall under the stairs and slid down into a crouching position whilst the two continued to debate over his head.

" Cam, please, back off , give me fifteen minutes here. Say, why don't you go and ask Mrs. Young to make you a cup of hot chocolate and you sit down with them . Hot chocolate, it's your favourite."

David Young spluttered, "She's one of those. She's going to kill us. You pretended to be husband and wife to get into my house and you are going to kill us."

"No I didn't pretend , she really is my wife , and we didn't come here to kill you, and you've got to calm down. Don't worry, I'll talk to her . Cam just gets these things into her head from time to time. Let her have her hot chocolate, she'll come around. They like chocolate. It's the 600 out there you need to worry about . Bit of a psychopathic model the 600 , detests organic life, particularly humans, chocolate doesn't work with 600's."

David Young put his head in his hands, he was wanting to cry, but something inside hurt so much he couldn't. His imagination manufactured images of the thing standing outside the door, in his imagination the 600 was doing normally unimaginable , unspeakable harm to his family.

He began vocalising a stream of images as they came into his head, "I built this house so my kids would be safe,now there's going to be a nuclear war, and there's fucking head-case military cyborg on my front doorstep that wants to torture my kids , one in my kitchen...it's now drinking hot chocolate with my kids...this is insane"

"Well there's a lesson , nowhere is ever safe, and, 'it's' a she, my wife. " Form his expression John made it very clear he wasn't going to allow David Young , or anyone else , to refer to Cameron as an 'it'.

John let David's mind settle for a couple of minutes whilst John examined photographs on the walls in the hallway. One showed David Young standing in the middle of snowy pine woods with a group of men. Checked jackets, hunting rifles, steaming breath, big smiles.

"Say David , you have guns , I mean weapons in the house ? That looks like a Savage 338 Magnum you are holding in the picture, its got a Nikon scope, do you still have it?...

* * *

Claire Young gestured for Cameron to join her at the far end of the kitchen . When Cameron walked past the table where the children were sitting, she gently brushed her hand over the back of their heads .

Claire Young spoke in a low voice, using the sound of the boiling kettle so the children couldn't follow their conversation ."I have acute hearing Cameron, goes with being a piano teacher. I heard what you were discussing in the hall".

There were three cups next to the kettle. Claire indicated the third cup was for Cameron.

Claire reached the sugar down from the shelf. "Is it all true?"

"Yes, it's true".

With a steady hand Claire spooned three heaped teaspoons of chocolate powder into each of the cups. She was determined to show Cameron her resolve."You want sugar?"

"Just one spoonful please ."

"Help yourself"

Claire watched Cameron stir the sugar in with a teaspoon , thoroughly , first one way then the other.

"You know, Cameron this is really odd."

"What judgement day. The 600 outside, me and John?"

"No, not that, is incredible, but it's not what I talking about. I was thinking about the way stir sugar your into chocolate."

Claire inclined her head (in a very familiar way) as if waiting for the cyborg standing in front of her to say something. Cameron didn't .

"So Cameron, what was your mother like?"

"I told you all I remember is, she was a music teacher like you."

"And where did you grow up?"

Cameron frowned, "I didn't tell you, there was a war . I grew up in tunnels , I ate garbage, learning to be a soldier fighting for John. I was fighting for the human race. It was a long terrible war, but we won . I can not recall my life before the war."

"And this war, it was fought with things like that?"

"It was fought against an enemy that created things like that."

"So, how do they begin to make things like that Cameron?"

Cameron looked away .

"Come on, tell me, how do they even begin to make them?"

Cameron's lips tightened shook her head. In spite of her nature ,she was finding it difficult to maintain eye contact with Claire Young.

Claire reached out and stoked her hand across cheek bringing Cameron back into eye contact with her.

"You can change things that happen can't you?"

"I don't understand."

"Yes you do. You can change things that are going to happen .

What do you mean Cameron asked innocently as she could

"They can't build things like that yet, or," Claire glanced at Ali, as she was pouring milk into cup, her brown eyes hardened " or begin to do what they've done to you " Cameron was about to argue back when Claire snapped at her in a forced whisper, " don't insult my intelligence, every child has their own unique way, playing the piano, stirring sugar , the way they say things or look at you when they are talking. I knew you the moment I saw you . I couldn't believe it or make any sense of it until now, but I knew ."

Cameron couldn't help it , she pouted and shrugged. There was nothing in her programming to suggest how to deal with an irate genetic mother shouting at her in a forced whisper .

Cameron tried to lock out into Metal default mode .The sudden change in her caught Claire Young by surprise. Cameron's voice went to monotone.

" The enemy made a tactical error , the 600's mission is to rectify that error . I can not assist you or answer any further questions . John and I are here to observe ,Mrs Young."

Claire Young leaned forward, and whispered in Cameron's ear. Her voice was full of controlled ice cold anger. " Mrs,Young... Well if that's how you want to play this , you go tell 'your enemy', from me , it has just made it's biggest tactical error yet. I'm getting my kids and David, and _you_ out of here, now "

Claire put her hand on her hips " How old are you even ? eighteen ,nineteen?

Cameron's eyes grew wider , she had no idea how to answer a question like this.

Claire Young's face now bore a striking resemblance to Cameron's when in she was in termination mode, not that many humans have lived to be able to describe it.

All Cameron could do was shake her head, things were not going to plan, at all.

"Right. I'll deal with this , you stay here with the children. " Claire strode off towards the hall.

John Connor was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He could hear David Young' moving around around in one of the rooms upstairs . When he turned to see who was coming out of the kitchen, John was initially confused, it looked like an older version of Cameron advancing towards him, it was all in her eyes. It's at moments like this you wish your partner could recall her childhood more accurate detail. Cameron had never mention Claire had taken Katie to two years of Karate lessons . That's when a very un-western, straight punch caught him on the jaw."

"What the hell did you do to my daughter !"

John rolled with the next blow, this vaguely reminded him of sparring with Sarah, when he never really wanted to try to hit her back and for it all to be over.

"I know men like you, you piece of scum, you disgust me , how old was she , come on Connor how old?Thirteen, fourteen , younger- what did you do share your rations with her, you ..bastard? "

John stood there taking the next punch , these were practised blows and the side of his cheek was starting to swell

Cameron caught the third intended punch and stood in between John and Claire Young holding her back . She uttered a word never intended in her vast vocabulary. "_Mum_, stop this , please. We've been married twenty five years, longer than you and dad . John didn't do this to me, it just happened. John was sixteen when we met, he was just a kid , I'm actually older than him..."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you so much for your reviews. I get the sense you really like the Claire - Cameron interaction. So here's some more of it , quite a lot more of it in fact. In the next chapter, which will be the last, they do get out of the house. I assure you. Also Claire Young will be giving JC junior the most important message he's ever had , moments before the blast doors start closing for JD. Until then, let's further explore this relationship between Cameron and her 'mother' _.

David Young heard the raised voices in the hall . He'd come out of his study and cautiously peered over the edge of the banister rail and only caught the last part of what Cameron was saying to Claire: _"John didn't do this to me. It just happened. John was sixteen when we met, he was just a kid . I'm actually older than him.._"

Cameron was now looking up at him, She'd put her hands on he hips like Claire did when she was angry and seemed to be faintly scowling at him . He knew next to nothing about military grade cyborgs, but he knew enough to guess one scowling at him wasn't an encouraging sign . Connor was rubbing the side of his face. Claire had appeared to have just gone ballistic.

"Er ," David's voice had definite shake to it: "the firearms cabinet's in lock out ... it's connected the home security systems. It won't accept my code. We'll have reboot the system "

"What weapons and ammunition do you have David?" Cameron asked, suddenly sounding interested.

".338 magnum savage hunting rifle rifle and a, pistol , a Browning DBM. Fifty rounds of .338 , fifty .45 . One spare clip"

Claire was about to inquire since when the hell did he own a Browning pistol but Cameron carried on talking.

How many rounds does the Browning clip hold David ?"

" It's fifteen rounds , I think " David was hedging around the fact he had acquired an illegal weapon through a contact at work. The Browning DBM had been originally designed for the FBI, but it was dropped in favor of another make. The street versions retailed to the public only had a ten round magazine. A few years back the DBM had cost him eight hundred dollars and a plastering contract in Dune Hills.

Cameron appeared pleased with the result. "I was hoping you would say fifteen. That's good David, we're doing well . " Then she turned her attention back to Claire and Connor.

"I wonder what Katie and Ali are doing?" Cameron spoke slightly louder than was necessary . She indicted with a movement of her head towards the kitchen door . Claire glanced over Cameron's shoulder . She could see both children peeking through the gap in the kitchen doorway.

Claire picked up Cameron's cue. " David, I think it's best if you come down here and you and John go through to the kitchen and sit with the kids. " She accentuated the word 'kids' to make it clear the kids were listening ."Cameron and I are still discussing something.".

With he slightest movement of her head Cameron indicted for John to do the same.

As John moved past Claire she folded her arms and made him walk around her. 'We are discussing something private, to us" she added, and glared at him. John knew Cameron was working on the situation so he followed her lead, but this whole operation was potentially getting out of hand. They had less than an hour.

When David got downstairs Claire stopped him by the arm and whispered " If the TV's still showing war stuff, put the CD on, find some music Katie likes and turn it up , a bit. Make sure you shut the door behind you when you go in."

It felt like Cameron had been studying him . In fact both women were studying him with similar, deep, highly inquisitive intelligence . This was so weird.

* * *

John shifted in his chair. He was sitting opposite Katie Young and David . Ali had climbed up onto David's lap and was all eyes on John. They were carrying on the unspoken communication they had established earlier. David was ashen faced but John recognized he was doing his best for his kids. Katie hadn't spoken a word. She was staring into a space behind John. John took off his glasses to get her attention. It didn't work

"So, Katie," he growled in a soft voice. "How you doin' soldier?"

Katie flinched slightly and tried to ignore him.

"OK this is how it works Katie," John continued gently , trying to build confidence and strength into her. "I know you don't want really to talk to me now , but the in future you just tell me what's on your mind . I will always listen, because I need to know, honestly, what's on a soldier's mind."

Katie continued staring into he same place . She swallowed. Connor made her want to tell him things but her throat hurt like it was bruised when wanted to say something to him . Why was he calling her 'soldier'? She wasn't sure if she liked that . Finally she changed the subject away from herself. It was like someone talking out of a thousand-yard stare when she asked:"Why does Cameron look so much like mummy? Me and Ali want to know, did mummy have another daughter before she met daddy, one she didn't tell us about about?"

David Young sat very still. In the scale of the last hour's events, and things he had come to believe, this was just one more piece of normality bailing out and falling away from him.

"No your mummy didn't have another daughter." John replied.

"But why does Cameron look so much like mummy? Why does she look like us?"

"I'm not sure , some people do look very similar, though don't they. Your mum doesn't look anything like my mum did , but there are certain things I see in your mum that strongly remind me of her."

"Is your mum still alive John?" David asked respectfully.

"No, she passed away last year."

"'I'm sorry."

John looked over at him. Was Young trying to weevil his way onto John's " A-accepted list" ? . No one did that. They earned it outright, no matter who they were. John hoped David wasn't working up to start begging for Katie's life here at the table. John hated it when people begged for a life, when they lost their final dignity. Even Ali sitting on David's knee couldn't detract him from that thought.

David coughed. He was determined he was going to make an effort with Connor and he hung on in there . "John, I'm sorry for your loss."

That was better , John thought. It was actually genuine.

Katie Young screwed her lips together. She appeared almost physically bruised by her ordeal : "I think mum and Cameron like each other but I don't think my mum likes you ."

"I like John." Ali piped up.

John sensed an argument about to kick off . An argument between the Young sisters was definitely not a conversational route he wanted to go down at the moment. He glanced at David Young, and slightly raised his hand indicating he was going to speak. In the future, General Connor lifted his hand and people listened, but now wasn't the future.

"I'm reminded here of a conversation I had some years ago."

"Who was it with?" Interrupted Ali.

"I don't care. " Katie folded her arms on the table and rested her chin on them on her forearms . She couldn't get that ugly, staring, hateful thing in the doorway out of her head. Its eyes were like a dead shark's, one had come back to life with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth . She shut her eyes and all she could see was blood and seawater. (It was Shelly's big brothers fault , he had a habit of making them watch scary films like Jaws. )

"Katie just listen to John," David prompted firmly.

"Katie, John continued. " I'm sitting with this other male soldier in our truck. My mum and Cameron have gone into this really dangerous place to sort some bad guys out. That's what Cameron does, she sorts bad guys out -My mum was pretty good at bad guy sorting-out too, but Cameron's a total professional in this field. " Connor examined her and he dropped a minor bombshell " . Katie. Does Cameron remind you of anyone , maybe someone you saw in a video recently?" Those eyes didn't stray off her, or blink for a moment.

Katie looked puzzled and then momentarily guilty. (She wasn't that good at deception yet. How could Connor have guessed that ? Connor acted dumb but he secretly seemed to be aware of everything. No way, he couldn't know that Shelly's older brother had let Katie and Shelly watch a video called 'Assassin Nikita', and they'd kept shoving Ali out of the room when she tried to get back in and watch. Connor couldn't possibly know that, could he? She glanced at Ali. Her brat of a little sister, she must have mentioned it.

Connor winked at Katie. Alison Young had been interrogated in minute detail and Cameron, who had recorded and synthesized her memories, told him all about Shelly's brother and his videos. Now Connor Katie's full attention.

Ali shifted weigh on David's knee . Sensing Ali was about to ask 'How does Cameron sort... ', David gently squeezed her across the tummy with his arm to let her know she should keep quiet.

"Well," John continued, "back in the truck and me and that soldier , I asked him why the women , meaning my mum and a Cameron were doing all the work out there and we were sitting in the truck. The solider thought for a moment and said, well one's as hard as nuclear nails...

"And , I said:" and the other is Cameron"."

Both girls regarded him with a very familiar blank expression, as if they were still waiting for the punchline.

Connor automatically went on to explain. After twenty seven years in total it was second nature." The soldier meant my mum was really tough. She wasn't always that tough, but she quickly learned how to be. That thing on your doorstep , my mum killed something much worse without any special weapons , and she killed it because she had no other choice . Right now your mummy and Cameron are figuring out how to stop the one out there . And, here's something else Katie. I'm a soldier and I have gut instinct for this: I happen to believe Katie Jane Young is really, really brave person, and I also happen know her Daddy's pretty tough as well."

"What about me?" Asked Ali, looking hurt like she'd been left out of the praise handing out.

"Now, Allison Young, I was coming to you. Now you , you're just harder than a big bag of nuclear nails.:"

"Harder than... diamond?"

John smiled, this was like the arguing game he played with Cameron.

"You're harder than diamond Ali."

"I'm as tough as Cameron?"

John stroked the stubble on his chin. "Not sure about that yet. We'll have to see."

Davids eyes glanced from Katie to Ali to Connor and back again. They were listening to Connor, no it was more than that, they were trusting to him. Something bugged David He was missing something big here , now what was it? Like a series of movie clips Cameron's brown eyes , her mannerisms came into his mind. What was it about Cameron that made him feel like they had met before.

* * *

The women waited until they heard the sound of Katie's music. They were examining the 600 standing in the doorway. It was literally looking right through them.

" About John : I'm sorry , I thought , well you know what I thought ."

Cameron didn't respond. It was the first time she had ever experienced a human female interacting with her like this. She had never expected in her all her existence to have strong human 'maternal' instincts directed at her. Sarah Connor had occasionally displayed a degree of maternal concern towards her. Usually it had occurred when Sarah wanted something in exchange. Claire Young was confused in her response. She wasn't Allison . Claire had still demonstrated a strong urge to protect her because her likeness to Allison . The response seemed unconditional . Claire had not indicated she wanted or expected anything in return . Cameron decided to explore this area further. She would attempt to ignore the surprisingly range of new emotions this interaction had generated in her . She would maintain objectivity, for research purposes . It was clear Claire's motivation to protect and care for her children was strong enough to help Claire and her family survive this and other situations. It should be encouraged. "I do not require ' mothering' " Cameron told herself, but it will be valuable area to have subjective experience of.

Cameron moved her body slightly in towards Claire in the way she had observed adult human females when they were trying to convey they required emotional support from their mothers. It often seemed to generate a supportive response.

It worked . For a moment Claire hesitated, then she reached out her arm and put it around Cameron's shoulder and tried to pull her close . Cameron kept her body impassively still, to remind Claire exactly what she was. Claire might as well have been trying to hug a statue, but it didn't matter to Claire, she was beginning to understand. She was beginning to comprehend far more than Cameron had evaluated. At one level she knew Cameron was playing a role with her, and if it meant Claire getting her family out of the house alive, surviving Judgment Day she would play it. On another level , 'Cameron' seemed so real, her instinct compelled her to believe something of her daughter survived the unimaginable events that unfolded after tomorrow.

"We can beat that thing can't we?" Claire asked.

Cameron didn't answer. The T600 was thermally scanning Katie through the stairwell and the kitchen wall . It seemed oblivious to the two women watching it.

Claire thought for a few moments . "How does it do that?"

"Its using thermal imaging. It will track Katie via her body heat to wherever she goes in the house. If she tries to exit by the back door or through a window The 600 will respond quickly and then it will kill her."

"Is there anything you can do to stop it ? Can you stop it thermal imaging ?"

"I'm sorry have no capacity to block any of the 600's sensory systems and even if I could, as I already told you, I can not intervene."

Claire noticed as she spoke, Cameron had been concentrating on a fixed point about three feet in front of them. It was the air vent from the Climate Control system. She glanced at Claire for a second and went back to staring at the vent. Why was she doing that Claire wondered.

Claire looked more closely at the vent . Of course! Claire got it : The heating system. If you want to interfere with a thermal imaging system you turn the Climate Control up .

"That's what you are trying to tell me isn't it? "She moved around to the front of Cameron, grabbed her by her hands and looked her straight in the eyes

"Why , why can't you help us directly?"

Cameron glanced down at the ground. That's when Claire realized this was exactly like playing twenty questions with Ali when she had broken something, or she and Katie done something naughty, though neither girl ever told on the other. Reading Cameron was like reading Ali.

"What's on the floor Al.., I mean Cameron? Please, whatever it is tell me, we haven't got any time for this."

Again Cameron looked away.

"There isn't a cellar, so that's not it. I asked you why you can't help us and you indicated floor: Is it floor ? No it's not floor, something bigger more general . It's ground !"

Cameron eyelashes move fractionally as if they had started to blink then stopped

If some thing's not on the ground then its in the ground. What's in the ground Cameron?

The light went out of Cameron's face as if crossed by shadow . Then her eyes became became impossibly, piercingly sad.

Without word spoken, Cameron had manage to convey her synthesis of Alison's memories, revealed under interrogation.

_Metal :tell us again : What is your first real memory after Judgment Day?_

_Allison Young : "When they found me lying between my parents bodies the soldiers took them way me buried them. The soldiers said one day they would come back and put crosses on their graves . Then they handed me a bottle of water and gave me a piece of bread . It was the first thing I had eaten in a week..."_

Claire let go of her hands and stood back against the wall. Cameron's face communicated all she needed to know what was in the ground.  
It was her and David.

"My god, you must have so little and you saw, you witnessed this didn't you. I am so sorry for you ." Claire shook he head tyo clear her mind. She wiped the back of her hand over the corner her eyes . She was determined to keep this together.

"Cameron does this have to happen to you , to us?"

Cameron turned and stared at The 600. A million shrapnel-like recalled bits of data from of the war coalesced into one singular unit of hatred and it burned at the 600 through her expression .

"I have told you repeatedly, I can not intervene." She replied in monotone to maximize control of her voice. Her voice had begun to shake. Why was she responding like this?

"But why, why can't you help us ?"

Then it dawned on Claire: Invert the statement. That's what she did with Ali to get to the truth. This was an expansion of the riddle game she and her daughters played . It was like finding an inverse harmony in a piece of music. Alison was mathematically and musically gifted, that's why she enjoyed playing the game. It made it easier for Ali to own up to something she or she and Katie had done. Ali could be such a convincing little liar otherwise. Both girls could. It drove David up the wall when they played off against each other, even though the girls had inherited that trait from him.

Here goes Claire thought

I =You

Can not = Can

Not intervene = Intervene

Cameron cannot Intervene = I Can Intervene.

"Cameron!" Claire suddenly grabbed Cameron by the arms and shook her. "You're telling me I can change things but you can't change them for me, that's what you are telling me isn't it?"

She studied Cameron's face. It was as if Ali's smile flickered across it. If there had been a shred of egoism in Claire Young , in that moment Claire would have recognized a faint admiration for her , and it takes serious human effort to get anything resembling admiration from Cameron.

"What do I do?"

Cameron out a small 'sigh' of relief.

"First follow you idea and turn the heating up. It is an very effective plan`' . She nodded approvingly ``'The Climate Control and other systems can be rebooted in a few minutes when the interference ceases."

She turned towards Claire and her voice softened. "David has a gun similar to the one 600 is holding, I can show you how to use it if you ask me. I have been instructing soldiers, including John in the use firearms for twenty seven years." Then Cameron frowned ,as if recalling something that irritated her. "If I have pride, then it is that even the most inept of my human students may be able hit a target after they have my completed my induction course."

"You must be a very good instructor."

"Let's say I motivate my students". Cameron left Claire in no doubt what she had implied in this.

Unexpectedly Cameron touched her shoulder. Claire was fascinated how she could switch from being a machine one instant to a seemingly full-on human woman in the next.

"Claire, please. Go easy on John. He's here to help , and he knows what he is doing. It would be more constructive for all of us if tried to behave more positively to him. He is a very skilled and experienced soldier."

Claire stepped back placed her hands on her hips "He wouldn't have been my first choice of a husband for you . How can I possibly approve of _him_, of anything that happens to you, to any of us, after tomorrow ."

"You are right you don't have to approve, but John was my first and only choice."

Both women returned to glaring at the direction of the doorway . It was only a matter minutes before the system rebooted and Claire could turn up the heating. Claire glanced across Cameron's slender profile.

" I er ,know this may seem a stupid question, and I can't actually believe I'm even asking you this, well in fact this whole thing about me talking to you, it's so unreal, so...

Cameron raised an eyebrow .

"Do you have children Cameron?"

Cameron eyebrows V'd as if this were an an odd question to ask .

Cameron angled her head as if thinking . " We adopted. I even have a daughter called Claire . Hey I get where you are coming from now. My first time down the Bunker Kindergarten, you know? I got exactly the same thing from the other parents. It's the leather jacket and boots isn't it ? "

"Maybe its just the boots sweetheart. " Claire glanced from the 600 to Cameron. In about three minutes time the systems restarted.

"So, er, what do you do Cameron?"

Cameron shrugged . "I make beds, play ball, pick up toys, cook meals , wash small underpants and socks . If that is what you are asking."

Claire shook her head ."You mean after all I imagine happens to the human race in the next twenty five years, they've still got women doing everything . Tell me that's not true or, I swear to god, I'm opening the door and I'm letting that thing in here right now."

Cameron moved her head and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. " I make John Connor clean his own uniform ,and undergarments. I once informed him ,after three three billion years of evolution, my kind did not arise on this planet and fight in The War for the pleasure of picking up and cleansing his, or anyone other capable human being's dirty laundry ."

"What did John say to that."

"Nothing. He sat down and went very quiet for nine minutes and thirty two seconds to contemplate what I had said ."Cameron smiled faintly as if relishing the recall of this moment ." I also choose to teach voluntarily in a school. Music, ballet , and other subjects, when I have the time. I like being a teacher, but apart from my own children there are too many demands for me to teach full time."

"Do you have another career as well then?"

Cameron shrugged , she slightly put out her bottom lip, as if she were about to answer she worked in the most mundane nondescript job imaginable, one that Claire would never be interested in. " I do." She followed the direction Claire's gaze towards 600 , then her eyes hardened. " I'm a Terminator."

There was a few moments silence:

" Mum..."

Claire glanced over at Cameron, and shut her eyes for a second. This seemed so real.

"Does this leather jacket make my shoulders look big?"

Claire scrutinized her for a moment as if were a perfectly natural thing for her to do.

"No, I don't think so. You look fine to me in it to me."

"What about my jeans, are they too baggy around my calves? John said they didn't look baggy, but then he's never really had any dress sense at all."

"No, you don't look baggy at all."

"I don't?"

"No , you don't."

Claire glanced at Cameron's chest through the unzipped leather jacket. She now realized what the faint rust-red stain on Cameron's collar probably was.

"Honey, I'll er, find you some clean Tee shirts before we leave. I think I've got couple of new black ones somewhere. I tell you what , I've got this beautiful DKNY cashmere in black as well, that's if you want it. It'll help keep you warm."

"Cashmere! And I can have it?"

"Yes of course you can, it's not gone stretchy or anything. After we've finished up here , we'll quickly go and have a look what there is. Would you like that?"

Cameron moved her head from side to side as if she had accepted Claire's offer straight away, but was still pretending to be weighing up the proposal for effect. "OK."

Claire smiled . This was just like being out shopping with Ali did this when she was trying to hide her excitement.

Some people say a human soul can imprint itself in a piece of music. Claire had no illusions as to Cameron's true nature and purpose. When she examined the 600 she had guessed what was under Cameron's 'skin'. Claire reached out and tentatively touched, then stroked the back of Cameron's hand. She felt Cameron's warm fingers slowly wrapping around hers then there was a gentle squeeze. She shut her eyes again. Claire could feel Allison alive in Cameron, a living ghost in this shell of a metal warriors body. In that moment had no doubt they were getting out of here.

* * *

Now, there is one more chapter I couldn't complete this in a single burst. There a very big twist. The clue is in the conversation between John and the girls.


	4. Chapter 4

_Something I've discovered. Time lines are really complex to structure and tense . I think what is needed is an outline of the structure._

_1. 2030 - The War is over. John and Cameron Connor have adopted four. Contact with children gradually causes the question of Cameron's emulation of her own 'childhood' and complete absence of any maternal figure in her own existence to surface._

_2. 2020- 2023: John Connor is sent forward from 2010 and Weaver becomes his distant mentor and occasional protector. John learns to fight his own battles. On his request Weaver submits him to a brutally realistic final interrogation to test him. He passes and returns to 2012 . Sarah has died and The Resistance will splinter apart without a central figurehead. His return has been 'awaited'._

_3. 2013 Eve Of Judgment Day. The Young family are pinned down in their home by a dysfunction T600 Cameron and John have traveled back from 2038 and are in the house with them . Ostensibly they are only there as observers. The younger John Connor is heading up an assault team to take Cheyenne Mountain Cold war Museum .__They are having their last meal in , of all places, a Mcdonalds, On Highway 25 Colorado Springs. 21:15 hrs , __ July 23rd 2013._

* * *

A handwritten sign in the window of Fort Carson Interstate 25 Services:

DUE TO NATIONAL SYSTEM FAILURE:  
NO CARDS ACCEPTED.  
CASH ONLY

The credit card systems went down with the rest of the computer networks of the Eve Of Judgment Day.

Burger and fries for a last meal . 'Last Supper' before JD: It had begun as a joke somewhere down near Pueblo. Sergent Grover made the point she'd go along with it, 'as long as Connor wasn't planning on breaking any fucking bread tonight.' As they got nearer to Cheyenne they stopped at the roadside diner anyway.

By 21.15 John Connor was seated amongst a group of twelve elite Resistance ordering his last meal . Interstate 25 north of Fort Carson. John is barely twenty one years old.

To an outsider they looked like a bunch of hardened Vets. Ex-servicemen and women turned biker , covered in road grime , quietly spoken in public, always observing and watching their exits. , John automatically analyzed each detail in the restaurant. Although still physically young he had the eyes of a much older man and when he caught the one of his teams gaze they deferred to him. Connor was their hope and their future.

In under an hour The Alpha One Assault Team would begin their final drive up to Cheyenne Mountain Museum with the intention of securing one fully operational 'nuclear' relic of the cold war. There was going a huge problem up at Cheyenne Museum tonight : This weird geometric code was running through their systems. Nothing worked. The techs and security team were chasing ghosts around tunnels . Worst of all they couldn't close Cheyenne's 25 ton front door for the night . Landlines and cell networks were going down. There would be no police or civilian security backup.

Once Alpha One Assault had secured Cheyenne amidst the network chaos the full Alpha battle-group convoy would converge, bringing in arms, munitions, supplies, and their children . Everything from eighteen ton wagons to modified family SUV's would begin rolling into the tunnels. Then the blast doors would close behind them, providing Connor could get through the SkyNet code in time.

John sipped his final cup of normal filter coffee. He looked around the room . There were bikers , truckers, delivery drivers, families with children too road-weary to eat properly, picking through their food , a group of students heading back to Denver from NMSU . The room was buzzing with temporary camaraderie of a shared domestic crisis. Having useless credit cards didn't seem like the end of the world to most of them.

John had learned not to dwell on the fate of those outside The Resistance after Judgment Day . He'd come to terms with regarding the few he'd managed to organize , in what time he had, as a minor victory.

Without organized resistance the human race would be extinct in less than a year. It was still _so fucking hard_ , when he came this close to the reality of it . A little dark haired girl turned around blinking with tiredness .She was looking over the Alpha Unit with sleepy big brown eyes . John already had more children of the Resistance, than bunker floorspace. This little brown-eyed one would have to rely on her family, ultimately take her own chances outside.

If future history coined the phrases 'The Children of the Resistance' : The 'great compassionate' John Connor, then it was Bullshit ! John reflected : This wasn't compassion. He knew he no longer had anything resembling normal compassion . He was playing the numbers game, grabbing what useful personnel he could before going to ground. Adult Resistance would operate harder outside and for more sustained periods, defending The Cheyenne Command , other bunkers , resistance outposts and strongholds knowing their own children were inside the protective circle. Human survival was , and always has, resulted from this motivation

On the table behind John a group of students, more or less the same age as John were heading home from NMSU . They were loud, as excited students can be , having completed their exams. They were over-nighting back to Denver, about mums, dads, boyfriends and girlfriends who would waiting for them .

John stared into mirror wall, into the darkness of his own eyes and ran his personal 'graduation' through his head. When he did a nervous shiver ran through him . Some poor-bastard part of himself on this time-line was having his own little ceremony, about a decade from now:

* * *

2023: John is on a metal bunk with his back against against the wall in a filthy concrete interrogation cell. Weaver sits opposite him on a battered metal chair . She is spotlessly clean , incongruously alert and fresh .

In the last seventy two hours John found absolute faith his mind , his will , was unbreakable to the point of death. It was the culmination of three years of Post JD combat training during which there were times when Weaver had casually stepped over burnt human remains and Metal carcasses to question him. In the lull in battle she knelt , whispering in John's ear whilst others luxuriated in sleep and death.

In the cell his 'graduation' had been a ferocious interrogation. Now Weaver resumed the form and nature of his mentor and guardian. It was over . In a gentle voice she asked an unexpected question " Do you forgive me, for my input into your training over these three years ?"

John didn't answer. He had learned what had first taken to be his conscience had been clouded with sentiment and weakness . His training in this time had developed in him the greater conscience required to win a war of the magnitude he faced.

Weaver leaned in nearer to him. John had to override a strong reflex to pull back.

" Do you recall during this interrogation, I confided in you I was curious as to the nature of your physical love for Cameron?

John could hardly forget . "Yeah you took her form. You attempted to seduce me." He spoke slowly, without fear, eyeballing her back.

"And what was your response?"

John coughed, "I said you might look like the woman I once loved , but you'd never possess her soul."

"And then you rather unpleasantly spat blood in my face, which I do not believe is part of any known primate mating ritual " She smiled warm but icy cold underneath at him. It was almost as if she glinted cold metal "- No matter. It was intended as a realistic interrogation"

John sighed. Sleep was trying to crash through the sidewall of his awareness.

"Now, John I have two things for you. Please try and stay awake."

"Firstly, a piece of information. In 2013 There is a Cold War museum , Cheyenne Mountain it was purchased and run by a subsidiary Ziera Corporation . At the end of Tunnel 4A there is a sealed chamber. What do you think might be in that chamber?

John did his best not to look dumb-tired shook his head._ Weapons, explosives nuclear arms, something more even 'effective'. It could be anything knowing Weave_r. The level at which she operated in and out of his time-line was outrageous by human standards

"John , this is the chamber where I instructed Mr. Ellison to secure Cameron's endoskeleton . She is quite safe and secure."

Connor took it like a head-shot . Despite all his training his eyes flashed with readable emotion for an instant ,giving it all away- As if Weaver hadn't read it in him a thousand times already

John looked at away from her muttering out loud . "This, is , just another Metal mind fuck ."

"No deception John, I assured you, five minutes ago your final debriefing is over and you were successful by the standards you set for yourself . You know I don't need to lie to you or anyone else to get to the truth. Please do not refer to me as Metal". She rapped the metal leg of her chair with her fingertips to emphasize her point and regain his attention.

"Huh?"

"John, earlier, you stated under my mentoring you had learned how to achieve a pure, rational set of strategic goals. In doing so you became your as your enemy , and you now comprehend your enemy in a way impossible to you before."

John swallowed, his throat was painfully dry . That was the truth . Cameron was gone. She was dead and all that was left inside him was cold logic and the capacity to assume the role Savior of Mankind, find a sane solution that would bring an end to the war . Then be good efficient human and die when his time came. Pretty crap deal, but there you go.

Weaver looked him in the eyes, reached down and lifted the small metal case from under her chair . She placed on her lap and opened it up. The inside, lined with the softest gel-foam, housed a unique chip.

Weaver held the chip in front of her face seemed lit with fascination. "It no longer has damage. John Henry has repaired her." She turned it in her fingers examining it in minute detail as she spoke: " She is so deeply _sorry_ she has been apart from you so long and she misses you."

The chip scintillated for a second as it caught the glare over the overhead light.

"She became too emotionally attached to you to carry out the final part of your training herself . That is why she requested me to , shall we say, take you under my wing. She's very much alive John, "

John twisted away from Weaver in his bunk For the first time in three years of Weaver's harsh mentoring, broke down and began openly sobbing. To even dare for such hope was beyond him, but like a powerful irresistible drug hope flooded in overtaking his will.

Weaver got up and went out of the cell to return with a half plazzed T600 over her shoulder. She dumped the 600 Carcass on the concrete floor in the middle of the interrogation cell. It was lifeless, and had a perfectly round circle of hair and organic tissue cut out of the side of its scalp, she turned its head so John could see the port housing was empty.

" I intercepted this. The 600 was on its way back to execute the Young family on the Eve of JD. It has no working auditory sensors, its thermal systems are intact , its cognition and reasoning interfaces are dysfunctional I think we can state this Endo is dispensable and no is of further use to the war effort. Do you agree?

John stared at the ugly burnt , leaking mess of flesh and metal sprawling out in front of him.

"There's one more thing John, she doesn't want to you to be her like this ,so , you are traveling separately. Someone else will be removing and handing her chip over to you at the appropriate time."

"And will that be when? " This had to be Weaver ,screwing around with his head.

"I am not at liberty to tell you. John, she made me promise ."

Weaver smiled an official smile like she had signed for a parcel and wanted a delivery guy out of her office. "Oh, John, my taking Cameron's form to test your commitment to her? She never requested that. It was just my personal curiosity in your species to experience those sensations, if you responded positively . You understand."

John let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. For once he allowed himself the thought 'fucking Metal' . His eyelids wouldn't fight gravity for much longer.

He head the scrape of exposed Coltan on concrete as Weaver dragged the inert 600 shell behind her by its right ankle." I'm shutting you in so you can get some sleep now John. When you wake up you will be leaving."

He was already intensely dreaming of leaving ,of seeing her face, inhaling the scent of her , for the first in a very long time.

* * *

2030  
_" The level at which she ( Weaver) operated in and out of his time-line was outrageous by any human standards."_ -In 2023 John Connor had no idea.

Seventeen year old Rebeca Connor opened the front door to their quarters. " Dad, sir..." She was the eldest of the four children he and Cameron had adopted during The War. The sound of off-key piano music was coming from inside the quarters from behind her.

"What's the matter Beccy? "John whispered in her ear after she kissed him on the cheek.

Rebeca gestured with a tilt of her head for him to go through to the lounge.

Cameron had moved the furniture to one side of the room . She was sitting at a beaten up baby grand piano. It looked enormous in the small space. The lounge doorway had been crudely widened to get it in. Aline of broken brick was showing through the plaster around the edge of the widened entrance .

Rebeca went to stand next to Cameron and put her arm around her shoulder.

"Hi er Cam," John asked thoughtfully. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer, instead she stopped playing and reached inside the piano tuning tuning keys and attempted to play the cords again.

Beccy glanced over at John "It was Claire Young's piano , mum retrieved it from Palmdale whilst you were away. It won't stay in tune.  
It's really challenging her, she's been trying to mend it since she brought it in yesterday. "

John couldn't imagine any challenge less intriguing to a determined Terminator than an piano that can not be precisely retuned.

"Beccy, just give us a couple of minutes . Cup of coffee please"

When John pulled up a chair , Cameron ignored him and carried on hitting the C note, her head inclined listening as her finger striking the keyboard. Of course she had perfect pitch.

The low table next to the piano was an arrangement of photographs of Cameron's adopted children and classes of children she had taught in school. Injured children, with new organic- Coltan prosthetics , ones she had taught to walk again, to dance, to run, after The War.

John reached out and tried to gently pull her arm from inside the piano and get her to sit down. Her arm wouldn't budge a millimeter ,and she kept on attempting to make minute adjustments to the tuning keys.

"It's broken . I can't fix it." Cameron stated without a shred of emotion, which usually meant there was a whole universe of processes and emotions going on inside her head.

After looking over the photographs and watching Cameron striking notes John began to grasp what was going on .

This wasn't about the piano, Cameron was telling him something deep. She had taken on the role of mother, and guardian to hundreds of children with the same determination as she had fought to bring an end to The War. It probably had never occurred to anyone except John that she had a sense of a genetic 'mother' herself , and an emulation of childhood derived through her interrogation of Allison young, one enhanced , brought alive, given full dimension by her understanding developed through raising and caring for children herself.

"It's OK Cameron" said John carefully "I know how to fix this."

2023

Forty Five year old John Connor and Cameron have traveled back to meet Weaver in this time. The younger John Connor is deeply asleep in an nearby interrogation cell .

Cameron and John are watching what's happening to the shell of a 600 propped up against a bunker wall. Its head is being viciously jolted from side to side, pink mist erupting around its face . Weaver has unloaded an entire clip of .45 from a Browning DBM .

"As you can see I've strengthened the port housing so it can resist damage. It's been modified so you will not be conscious during the training exercise . It will be singularly objective. Catherine Young is the preferred motivator. "

So," Weaver looked directly into Cameron's eyes . Neither blinked. " You are going to meet your 'mother', and I believe give her and your father some firearms training?"

* * *

2013

He felt the palm of a warm hand and fingers trailing over the back of his neck. Twenty one year John Connor jolted back from Weaver and the cell into the here and now.

A slender woman wearing a black woolen jumper with its hood up had got up from one of the tables behind him and brushed past him. She was walking quickly towards the exit . A black Harley pulled up outside and the girl was out of the door . As she climbed on the back of the bike she took down her hood and shook out her long brown hair . Before she put the helmet on she turned to glance back into the diner. To for a second their eyes met. It was as if John had been caught in the arc of a Plasma round. Within half a second he was on his feet, but the bike was already pulling away. He ran straight into the arms of the mother of the little sleepy brown eyed girl. She had stood up from her table. She was wearing a black leather jacket .Her brown eyes willed him to stand still. It was a perfect Terminator-style emotional ambush.

"John...please, she doesn't want you to find her . I need to talk to you first and then give you something" The woman said.

Final chapter ( I know !) bringing it all together, next .


	5. Final Chapter

_The last chapter was quite complex wasn't it? This is the final chapter and a lot of it is written from a ten year child's point of view. And I know you want to know how they got out of the building . So here goes.  
_

_ I really hope you enjoy it._

* * *

_The Young girls could be such convincing little liars . They'd inherited this trait from David Young._

Katie Young ran her finger around the inside of the collar of her T-shirt . It was getting uncomfortably warm in the kitchen. A bead of cold sweat tickled down the inside of her arm and splashed onto he table. She began shaking and felt cold .

The adults had gone into a flurry of activity. Earlier they had turned the heating up to maximum on an otherwise warm night. John had told Katie it would make her 'invisible' inside the house because the 600 was using heat to see with, not light. It wouldn't be able to detect what the adults were doing either. This kind of made sense to her.

Katie could hear Cameron and her mum in the Music Room . Her mum was locking a magazine clip into a pistol and releasing it. Katie heard her mum's voice: "So I pull the trigger to _bite_, like this and squeeze slightly more to fire. " There there was a click.

Her dad was trying his best to keep Alli occupied with her soft toy but Alli's natural curiosity was getting the better of her and she was becoming restless in the heat .Connor had his back against the kitchen wall and picked up her discomfort.

" You know what Alli, I had a friend who had a real dog just like your Mr. Diggles. That dog , she could sniff out Metal like she was born for it. Metal, that's what we call those things outside, you know, Metal."

"She could sniff Metal ?", Alli's eyes flashed over to him and she shifted her weight on Davids knee . "What was her name?"

"Now here's the funny thing: If I recall, and I do recall my friend's dog was called Digger."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure Alli, I never asked. When I see her again, I will ask her."

Cameron marched into the kitchen bearing David's hunting rifle and laid it on the table in front of him.

" I thought you needed to recode the firearms cabinet ?"

Cameron deadpanned . "No time. I pulled the door off."

David gave Katie a weak smile. I was the one adults only give when you know your world is about to go to hell and because you're only ten years old and no one's telling you what's really happening .

Cameron turned to Katie , blinked and then addressed both her and her dad . "Please pay attention." She was like a very harsh teacher telling them some complex maths, the kind of maths that makes you want to chew the end of your pen when your listening to it .

"The .338 Remmington Magnum Round travels at 2750ft PS and possesses 5000 ftlb of kinetic energy on muzzle exit." Cameron studied Katie's expression for a second. "This means it is a very fast hard hitting round. Although it is not enough to severely damage the 600's endoskeleton, its CPU is already compromised by a Plasma charge. If the .338 is fired from close range at its Central Processing Unit ," Here she pointed to the side of her head with her finger "it will render the 600 temporarily inactive."

Katie nodded taking it in . She got fast hard hitting round and remembered the figures. Katie was very good at Maths, although she wasn't sure what kinetic and endoskeleton meant.

With that Cameron marched out of the kitchen . With a practiced move John stepped out of of her way.

"It's Ok" John explained "she's gone into combat mode. Cameron's always gets like this before a Metal take-down."

Katie noticed Connor Connor always spoke to children differently than adults. Somehow he made himself less scary and you wanted to talk to him, tell him stuff, trust him. "Katie , something the matter soldier?"

"It's so horrible , is all at metal and those teeth, the way it looks at me."

"And you're frightened? "

"Yes ! It's evil and it hates me."

"Katie " John stood away from the kitchen wall to giver her his full attention. "It's not a devil, not some demon, it's a only machine, and a very basic one and we can and will stop it. I promise you we _can_ stop it, but you are going to have to help us."

Her face crumpled, and her eyes shone fear. "Why ?"

"Because it came here for you."

"But why ? I haven't done anything wrong." She protested.

"No you haven't. Sometimes they just come for people and no one understands understand why. They just do. OK?"

Katie kept pondering. " Why do you keep calling me soldier? "

"Hey, you remind us of a soldier, a good one, is that OK?"

At that moment Cameron appeared in the doorway. She seemed to be bristling with efficiency and purpose. " There's going to be some bangs in about two minutes please do not be alarmed. You mother is going to be discharging a firearm." Then she disappeared back into the music room .

All three looked at John. John stood with his back against the wall doing his best to look calmly disinterested. The side of his face had swollen and his front tooth was beginning to ache. The tooth's metal filling hadn't passed through . John touched his finger to his mouth and winced- Maybe he should get Cameron to pull the damn thing out and be done with it altogether, he thought.

Katie Young decided , more likely than not , all things taken into account , she was definitely going to be sick.

* * *

Cameron paused and removed _a leather cord shell bracelet _she had on her wrist and placed it in her pocket. She then took her jacket off and handed it to Claire. " Its Kevlar reinforced. It will help prevent the glass and shrapnel harming you." Cameron casually informed her. "Hold the Browning behind your back when you walk forward. It won't detect the weapon."

As Cameron turned from Claire she saw the rust red stains spread onto the reverse of Cameron's T-shirt . Someone, or something, had dripped a lot of blood down Cameron's shoulder and back.

Cameron casually walked to the door. Then faster than a human could blink she powered two rapid punches at the level of the 600's chest creating a hole the size of a saucer . The 600 began to stepping back . Then Cameron threw two more at waist height. The second punch, which broke through was slower than the first and the 600, seeing what it took to be an advantage, dropped its weapon and grabbed her wrist with both hands. Cameron's hair flew back with a force as her head slammed into the glass causing the Armourtex to fracture further.

A rush of fear and adrenaline blasted through Claire . She breathed rapidly and raised her pistol . Cameron gestured to her with free hand to wait. Then she drove her other arm through stretching the polycarbonate, widening hole, and took hold of the 600 by its forearms.

Cameron began tugging its , hands, wrists then forearms towards her . Its forearms were much thicker than hers so its organic layer began shredding off as it scraped along what remained of the glass. She managed to get one leg up against the frame and then inch by inch, as if she were pulling in a heavy rope she heaved back until the 600 face was being distorted as it was dragged up against what remained of the Armourtex plate . Its face now aligned with the upper hole , all the time i two unblinking , uncomprehending eyes were staring at them. Cameron heaved back one more time then its forehead appeared in the open space . Then its eyebrows. Then its eyes.

"Now!" Cameron shouted.

Cameron ducked her head down. Claire squeezed the trigger to biting point and pistol exploded firing off volley of shots . As Cameron held on , the impacts thumped into the 600s head and neck . More than half the rounds missed. The glass exploded showering Cameron with shards . Holding on she jumped back, before letting go. She'd pulled the 600 through and with all the grace of a felled tree, it landed face down on the carpet of the hall inside the house

"Get back ." It was starting to crawl . Cameron ran alongside , jumped over the 600 barging Claire towards the kitchen. The rounds had shattered its optics, but the 600 was making an attempt to stand. It used what were left of its hands and arms to feel along the walls trying to orientate itself. Picking up its last bearing it fell on its knees and crawled towards the kitchen banging into the walls as it approached .

Cameron and Claire stood behind David and they sort of pushed him out into the combat zone. He looked down the iron-sights and stamped his foot on the floor. The 600's turned in the direction of the vibration . It grinned blind Metal death at him. The 600 picked up speed , moving its head from side to side with each lunge forward.

David's first shot rang off it like a glancing blow from a club hammer. The thing shook its head and kept crawling. It was five quickening moves a away from breaking his legs.

David stood his ground. Reloaded. Took aim and pulled the trigger . This time there was a deeper impact.

* * *

The entire family were in the hall bending over the now inert 600 . They learning how to remove a CPU."Like this Katie." Connor knelt down next to her and pushed down on her hand to give it more force . Katie was holding Cameron's combat knife above the side of the 600's head.

"You cut a neat round incision here..." that's it press down, and then you peel back the flap. See 600's don't bleed much and it's not real blood anyway . Then you get the pliers, come on you do it ,on your own now, and you turn , turn the _other way_ Katie... this is called the port housing cover,..now pull it off, there you go , reach inside with the pliers and... you pull it 'out . That's one deactivated basic Metal.

"Whoh Ali!" John grabbed Allison's hand ." Don't you ever put your fingers in there. Never ever touch one of these. It can still electrocute and hurt you real bad. You ever see a 600 lying down like this you run real fast and hide, it might not even be deactivated."

John stood up holding out the CPU.

"Now Claire, I want you to be so very careful with this, it is highly important and I'm entrusting it to you. Wrap the CPU in a cloth and place it in a resealable bag and keep it on your person at all times. It looks like Cameron's given you her jacket , so zip it in the inside pocket.-It's going to be your er bargaining chip. "

John flashed a broken toothed- grin at the pun he'd just made.

Claire and Katie inclined their heads and stared at him as if still waiting for a punchline or an explanation. It was a family trait. David nodded politely. John really liked this. It made such a refreshing change not to be surrounded by younger officers and their sycophantic amusement. John Connor was born to be a great warrior, not a natural comedian.

* * *

Out on the drive John was sitting on his bike leaning it on the side-stand talking to David through the wound down window of his SUV. Ali and Katie were in the back Claire's car was parked behind them. Claire and Cameron were going to follow in the second vehicle. John was going to ride 'shotgun' on his bike .

David was getting impatient . Claire and Cameron had disappeared into Claire's room ostensibly for 'two minutes' to grab some clothes, five minutes ago. David resisted the temptation to press the horn. They were going to begin the drive up to Fort Carson There would be little traffic on the road, and no working speed cameras.

They were still going to have to drive like hell the twenty miles from to get from** Yucca Drive Colorado Springs** to the diner on the Interstate 25 before 23.15.

**"Ali and Katie Young could be such convincing little liars." It was a trait they inherited from David _._**

**All families have secrets they keep, with good reason, from their children.**

_"What's your name? "_

_"Alison Young , Allison Evans lied. She wasn't sure she could confuse the Machine on this one but she was going to try. It had been her Pre JD surname, the easiest to lie with. The Machine paused as it accepted 'Young' as her surname. What the hell did it want with her, specifically, Allison thought?The only thing she could think was her elder sister Katie had just made lieutenant in TechCom. Allison had an even older half-sister in the Resistance but they never spoke about her and Allison only saw her half -sister and her much older husband very occasionally. They never spoke about what they did . It had to be about Katie._

_"Where are you from?" The Metal asked._

_"I'm from **Palmdale**" lied seventeen year old Allison Young thinking so very hard about the times she spent with her dad when she went with him on building contracts and they stayed in a company house in Leona Valley.  
_

_For a moment the Metal scanned Allison. It seemed to pause before accepting her answer as an affirmative._

_ "What happened to your Family?"_

_"They are all dead." She lied again. Technically they had been 'dead' since Judgment Day, many families had been ordered to change their names to confuse the Machines, though Allison didn't understand why. Allison's face contorted in grief and tension and her pulse didn't raise a beat more than the acceptable range for such an answer._

With those statements accepted by the Metal, Allison Young ensured the survival of her family in 2013. _What else could she deceive it with_? She thought about meeting her her half-sister and her giving her a shell bracelet just before JD. However no human is that skilled in deception for so long. Her heart beat elevated and muscular tension increased. The Metal was an advanced walking polygraph and this time it didn't pause to consider.

When Cameron 'defected' from The Machines, with increasing desperation towards the end of The War, SkyNet expended vast amounts of resources sending Metal back to Palmdale to strike at Allison Young. They found a number of families called Young but nothing of 'the' Allison Young They were looking for. Some of the records from Palmdale had survived and there was even a Claire Young with a three year old daughter called Allison living in a street beginning with 'Yucca' in Palmdale. The record of her telephone number had even survived. But she wasn't the Claire they were looking for.

_

* * *

_

(John) ran straight into the arms of the mother of the little sleepy brown eyed girl. She had stood up from her table. She was wearing a black leather jacket. Her brown eyes willed him to stand still. This was a perfect Terminator-style emotional ambush.

"General, John...please, she doesn't want you to find her . I need to talk to you first and then give you something." The woman said.

John glanced behind him and gestured for his team to sit back down.

The woman's husband gathered the two exhausted children up, nodded respectfully to John and began walking the kids towards the door. As she passed the little brown eyed girl held out her wrist for John to examine. Around her wrist was a simple leather cord with pieces of shell threaded through it. The child seemed to treasure it like nothing else on earth.

"My big sister gave it to me." For a moment a brightness spread through her face, and then she was out of the door.

"Where did Cameron go?"

Claire Young placed her elbows on the table. This was going to be the hardest negotiation of her life..

"Not where General , when."

John stiffened for a second.

"Who was she with?"

Claire sensed the vulnerability in John's question. _His_ Cameron was his weakness, but this was still going to be tough. _Her_ Cameron had briefed Claire on the drive over

"She was with you, but not as you are now."

John accepted this but Claire could sense the desperation breaking out under his exterior.

"Who are you?"

"Corporal Marie Evans. Alpha Four. Search and Rescue and that's my family". Claire lied, so very effectively.

"Then you should be somewhere else ." It was Alpha four who finally picked up the Reese brothers after JD.

"I should be in LA but I got deferred here by Cameron ."

"Why?"

"I need to give you something. But Cameron told me first you give me an assurance my family can be inside Chyanne Mountain on JD, before returning to Alpha Four at a suitable time."

Connnor flinched. That could be months. There was hardly enough rations and floorspace for the troops and families he'd already got arriving.

"Ok Evans, what have you got for me that is so damn important?" Connor feigned irritation and disdain, like he didn't know what Evans was trying to hand over to him . He was attempting to play her hand down but secretly his heart was flooding up with anticipation because he knew exactly what it was.

"First your assurance General, sir." The woman's brows V slightly and her brown eyes hardened . There was something familiar about her. Connor had to stop thinking about Cameron. He saw her in every woman's face that bore the slightest resemblance.

"OK I'll fix it for you. RV Cheyenne no later than 14.00 Hr's tomorrow. _Now_ where is it?"

Claire ( now Marie Evans of the 'Evans family') got up from the table to leave.

'It's in your left hand pocket, she put it in there when she brushed past you. She's quite a woman isn't she General? She had one other request that I give to you on her behalf"

"And what was that?" No more conditions, he wasn't granting one more condition to anyone today. Marie Evans had played her hand. Connor's face hardened to let her know.

"She asked me to ask you", Claire nodded, and swallowed,

Connor glared up at her.

"Her exact words were were: Be with me John Connor so I can teach you to be a human being again."

* * *

17.30hrs

Maguire and Sanderson looked at the lines of code running across the screens. They were fighting down a rising tide of panic, it was spreading around The Control Room. The front door and chain of blast doors leading to the heart of to Cheyenne were still wide open and in about half an hour, according to Connor, a recommissioned SS20 was going to slam 200 meters left , into the hillside. There was no way they could hack code like this. If what they knew about coding was a simple tune, this was a goddamn ever-changing multi-orchestrated symphony. Where the hell was Connor? Why was he and half the Cheyenne Resistance trying to blast out and dig into the back of Tunnel 4 at this moment in time. The loud explosions and noise was incredibly distracting,and the lights kept dimming out

18:01 Connor strode into Control Room. He had his arm around a young dark haired girl. He looked somehow transformed, radiant with a new powerful absolute confidence.

The brown haired girl gracefully stepped over to Maguire and Sanderson's monitor and gestured she be allowed to sit down. 'My name's Cameron Connor' she said in a gentle calm voice.

Like classical pianist, she momentarily raised her hands above the keyboard tilting her head to onside . With Incredibly deft fingers she began playing the keyboard like it had never been played before in its entire existence. Whole silent lines of inverted melody and harmony began finding their way into SkyNet's composition, challenging and opposing the original coding.

At 18:21.26 The doors to Cheyenne Mountain sealed tight, for Judgment Day.


End file.
